a good week!

"The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made"

- Psalm 145:9

It's been a very good week!  One of the most amazing weeks in a long, long time.  Soooo many reasons why ... good times with sweet friends, time to create, cook, relax.  Good fires.  No school, well, not really, so work was not overwhelming.  And I am loving blogging.  I am sure that when life really hits me in the face next week that you won't be hearing from me everyday.  But for this week, it's been fun and it's been so encouraging to gather a community around me and feel part of something bigger than my backyard.  My friend, Emily recently "circled the wagons" as she hit a hard time.  I feel like my wagons are circled and I feel so cozy there in their midst!  I've also had some extra time with God this week and that has been sweet.  Kind of like going back to those first days of dating where you just can't quite get enough of the other person.  That's what it's been like ... God and me!  For all those reasons and more, it's been a sweet week!

I'm heading out soon for the 8 hour drive to Orlando and a weekend with four very special gals, a mission to raise money for missions, and a challenge to be faced and WON!  Pray for our safety, for sweet fellowship, for warmer weather (Orlando is NOT in a rare global warming area, it's brrrr cold there as well!  SAD!)  Pray especially Sunday evening as we (I) am driving back!  It's gonna be tough after a 3:30 am wake up and a 26 mile run to then drive home 8 hours and then jump into the first week of the semester at BCM!  Yeehaw!  That's the tougher of the marathons I'm facing, I fear!

Ok, let me digress a bit and just share with you some snapshots of what made this week so special!

Sunday:  Back at my NEW church after two weeks gone!  I LOVE my new church!  I am finally in a place where I get fed.  Don't know a lot of folks yet ... but looking forward to getting to know them!  I finished the day with an old friend from Texas.  We had a five hour visit at Mary Mac's and some good southern cooking!  Such a blessing to talk with someone in my place in life - single, 40, BCM.  That's not a combination I find everywhere! 

Monday: Back in the office.  Invited you guys to "come and go with me."  So thankful to be doing life with you!!  Stayed at work just long enough for lunch with my sweet Daniel girls - Amy and Steph (sorry Hannah!) - at one of the best places in Athens.  If you come visit me, I'll take you to Marti's for some yummy chicken salad.  THEN ... had some nursing girls (along with craft queens Gini and Amanda) over for dinner and to paint!  Here are some pictures of the evening:

I love having a fire in the fireplace - makes for such a cozy home!

Dinner around the table ... fun conversations!  Cooking and having people over are two of the things I LOVE most to do ... I don't do it nearly often enough (thus, the resolution) but it is one of those things that makes my heart most sing! I love it!

My Mom shared a yummy new soup recipe with me that I fixed for dinner. Thought I'd share the recipe with you ... so you can enjoy it as well! 

Cheesy Veggie Soup
3 c. diced potatoes
1 c. diced celery
1 c. diced onion
3 cans chicken broth
************
10-oz pkg frz California veggies
************
1 lb. Velveeta
2 cans crm of chicken soup

Cook potatoes, celery and onion in large pot with chicken broth - bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook 20 minutes.

Add California veggies, bring back to boil and cook 10 minutes.

At low heat stir in Velveeta and crm of ckn soup until cheese melts.

After dinner, we set out to paint some canvases like the ones they've admired in my house (thanks, Callie!).  First we picked a color palette and painted the background.  That's the easy part!

This one was Amanda's.  Can you tell she is an artist?

Then we painted the tiles that make up the artwork.  Eventually there will be letters added to the tiles and they will form a verse.  Hang on and I'll show you the final product!

These are Allie's.  She's good!  We all stole her ideas!  :-)

Didn't quite get finished, but painted til it was late!  The girls are all starting their final semester in nursing school ... and married or nearly married!  I love these girls!  The nurses are a HUGE blessing in my life!  Such a sweet day ... slept well!

Tuesday: Cleaned off my desk at work!  That was HUGE ... mostly it meant I opened drawers and stuffed stuff into them, but I feel better about starting a new semester.  Don't plan on coming to see me anytime soon though, cause my guest room is the "drawer" I've stuffed stuff in at home!  It's BAD!!  But it has a door and its closed!  Ended the day with dinner with a sweet girl to celebrate her first day student teaching!  I am so blessed to share life with so many amazing students.  There's a cool story of how God brought Carrie into my life ... she's been a real blessing the last year!
 
Wednesday:  It was a "work from home" day!  Love those ... but don't get to do that often ... at least not during the school year!  Had some sweet time with God that morning.  Went for a run (on the treadmill - trying NOT to go outside EVER!!) and then cooked lunch for Megan, my women's ministry coordinator. (I think I could get used to mornings like that - I could be a "kept" woman!!  Anybody know any takers??)  We enjoyed catching up on life over lunch and set in front of the fire while we worked on our women's retreat stuff!  Such a blessing doing life with her!  Excited about what God has ahead for women's retreat!  Then I had an evening at home, so I finished my canvas.  I painted one for Gavin ... thus, the camo color scheme.  Painting and crafting is therapeutic for me!  There's something rejuvenating about creating!  Here's the finished product!
 

Thursday:   Students started class!  BCM was CCCCOOOOLLLDDDDD!  I wore my mitten/gloves almost all day IN THE OFFICE ... even with my space heater ... but it was fun to have life start to reappear around the office!  I got LOTS of tasks done.  That's always score for me!  Plus, the day ended with fun little snow flurries.  Jsut enough to make things exciting, not enough to make the roads slick or life complicated (YET!  Friday is a different story)!  Packed for the marathon weekend ... that involved a little crafting (giftbags for my marathon girlies!) and some yummy new snacks.  They are super easy and oh, so good!!

Get this .. all you do it place a rolo on a pretzel and cook them at 350 for about 3 minutes.   Just enough to soften the chocolate.  Probably could microwave, too - didn't try that!

... while they are mushy and hot, stick a nut on top and voila!  Yummy snacks in 5 minutes.  Takes a while to set up, but you can put them in the fridge or outside in the cold!  (YEP!  I see the recurring food theme here!  That's why I'm starting Biggest Loser on Monday!)  Ended the day going to bed early and reading one of my new Charles Martin books!  Score!
 
Today:
So, started today awake earlier than I planned listening to the traffic and weather reports, the school closings, feeling a bit sick that I am the "adult" who has to decide when and how and if we can go to Orlando today!  Urrrghhhhh.  UGA is in school.  Clarke and Oconee counties are not closed, so our little pocket is a little less hit.  I think once we leave here we are on interstate and they seem to be icing the roads well.  So, I guess unless someone tells me otherwise, I'll get off the couch, finish up some packing and get us on the road about noon!
 
But, all of that angst was not without some muting of the "reports" and some time with the Israelites.  Today we looked at how God's invitation was extended from "some" to ALL of us!  I am so thankful that His covenant with us is no longer conditional.  I'm glad the love and grace He extends to my life is mediated through Christ's work on the cross, not my own human efforts!  I would fail!  I DO fail ... but He still loves me.  A little sad for the tattered band of Israelites that after all those years on wandering they would not make it to the Promised Land afterall.  I understand God's covenant with them.  It's OBVIOUS that they didn't hold up their end of that deal despite His presence and clear direction.  Not only did they complain.  Pretty sure He could handle that.  But they were disobedient over and over.  But still, I feel for them.  They had a tough life.  I mean, shouldn't all the hardships in Egypt count for something?  Priscilla Shirer put a sentence into today's study that gave me some comfort ... "The vast majority of those who wandered in the desert never set foot in Canaan, but that didn't mean that God's love for them dimmed or even that He changed His mind.  God doesn't revoke invitations to a dynamic relationship with Him."  Thank you, Jesus!
 
One of my favorite verses ... I feel like it sums up this week and my thankful little heart ...
"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to YOU."  Psalm 116:7
 
Heading toward Orlando with warm clothes and a full heart!